Selecting a gift for someone can entail a considerable amount of planning and browsing for a gift giver. For example, a gift giver may need to research what he or she thinks the gift recipient would like and does not already have, and the giver may also spend time to travel to obtain a desirable gift. Sometimes, a gift recipient also spends time to return the gift at the store from which it was purchased and sometimes without success.
To avoid buying a specific gift that a gift recipient may not like or already has, a gift giver can buy a gift card. However, with a store-specific gift card, for example, a gift giver runs the risk that the card is purchased from a store that the gift recipient does not prefer. Also, with the gift card, the gift giver runs the risk of giving a gift that may be perceived to be too impersonal.
A gift giver can access recommendation services and/or websites that suggest possible items based on past, collected information. However, using these recommendation engines also entails the trouble of knowing specific items that the gift recipient prefers so that suggestions based on this knowledge can be made, and even then the giver may not know whether the recipient already has a particular item.